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Interpol recovered 29 works of art stolen in Argentina and arrested one person in six raids conducted on art galleries in Buenos Aires, authorities said Monday.

A total of 37 paintings and sculptures by outstanding national and international artists valued at an average of $400,000 had been stolen on Jan. 7 from a private home, the Argentine Security Ministry said in a communique.

One of the stolen paintings, by Argentine artist Horacio Buttler, was found in the Arroyo art gallery.

Investigators discovered that the man who had turned over the painting to the gallery was an employee of the Buenos Aires art gallery, where stolen works of art by Argentine painter Oscar Vaz were subsequently found.

Also, authorities found stolen artwork in two other galleries and two warehouses of the Zurburan art marketing firm.

The rest of the stolen artwork was recovered in a cafe near the art galleries where investigators found documentation that allowed them to identify Osvaldo Ryszelewski as the person overseeing the sale and distribution of the stolen pieces.

Investigators found that Ryszelewski had 13 arrest warrants outstanding for different crimes and they arrested him.

Police are continuing their work to recover the eight paintings that have not yet been found, the communique said.

Four young men were shot to death on the basketball court at the colony Machine. Thursday, gunmen killed the four young men after they were attacked while playing a game, tied up and shot execution style.

The four men between 17 and 25 years old were found with bullet wounds and their hands tied behind their backs, at about three o’clock.

Arriving Red Cross paramedics, only one of the young-identified as Antonio Rey Angel was still alive, but died four hours later while being treated at the hospital.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez broke last week’s silence to say that “unfortunately” he will no longer be that “runaway” horse that never slept, and that he now works just eight hours a day and sometimes less.

“I have to accept it and here I am accepting it and I confess it to the country: unfortunately I will not continue to be that sometimes runaway horse out there,” Chavez told state-run VTV television, a reference to the repose doctors have ordered him to observe and which he said kept him shut away all week.

The president said he continues to recover from the last cycle of radiation therapy and that he is currently working eight hours or less per day and that he is resting and following a diet, doctors’ recommendations that he is “strictly” following.

Chavez underwent radiation therapy after having a cancerous tumor removed in February, the reoccurrence of a cancer he suffered almost a year ago.

“I spent this week shut away here, working but strictly following medical orders in order to recover as quickly as possible from the normal effects of the radiation therapy, and I’m gradually getting better,” he said.

He repeated that he has asked God to give him “the strength of a buffalo rather than that of a horse” to sustain his health and “get well once and for all.”

In the interview, the president expressed his satisfaction at this weeks announcement that the economy grew at a 5.6 percent clip in the first quarter.

At less than five months from Venezuela’s presidential election, opposition candidate Henrique Capriles seems to be slipping in the polls and now trails Chavez by a significant margin.

Analysts say that the reasons for Capriles’ lackluster showing in the polls include a campaign that has not yet had a massive presence and the fact that voters are more focused on Chavez’s health issues.

Nonetheless, the same analysts say that the opposition candidate still has time in the remaining 4 1/2 months to attain enough voter preference to win the election, though he will have to climb a minimum of 17 percentage points to overtake Chavez.

Puerto Rican duo Wisin & Yandel will sing the song “Follow The Leader” with Jennifer Lopez on this week’s season finale of “American Idol,” Universal Music Latino announced Monday.

The song was written by Wisin & Yandel, J.Lo and the Bloodline Sisters.

According to Fox figures, the final show for this season of “American Idol,” on which Lopez is a judge along with rocker Steven Tyler and producer Randy Jackson, will attract approximately 29.5 million viewers.

The two finalists this season are 16-year-old Jessica Sanchez, who is of Mexican and Filipino origin, and Phillip Phillips.

Wisin & Yandel, who have won a Grammy and two Latin Grammys, are currently preparing their next tour through 25 cities in the United States and Canada during which they will share the stage with Lopez and Spanish crooner Enrique Iglesias.

Malaysian Judge Mohamad Zawawi Salleh has convicted five people – three of them brothers from Mexico– of drug trafficking and sentenced them to death.

The defense made the claim that the evidence against the defendants had been tampered with and that they had only been cleaning the drug-making factory at which they were found, not making or transporting the drugs.

Of the five convicted, one is from Singapore and another from Malaysia. The remaining three are brothers – Luis Alfonso Gonzalez Villarreal, 44, Simon Gonzalez Villarreal, 37, and Jose Regino Gonzalez Villarreal, 33 – who hail from the drug-riddled Mexican state of Sinaloa.

Eldest brother Luis told reporters he and his brothers were very upset upon hearing the verdict, saying they believed they would be acquitted.

When they were arrested in 2008, police reportedly found more than 63 pounds of methamphetamine, worth about $15 million.

During the sentencing, Judge Zawawi Salleh stated, “The court finds all five accused are aware and are involved in the activity of drug-making.”

The sentence calls for death by hanging, and the Mexican government has yet to intervene on the matter.

The brothers did not have a record in their native Mexico and their family says they made their living Mexico making and selling bricks. They added the brothers left for Malaysia in search of work, and gave no indication they were involved in the drug trade.

A man who lost his penis after he claims his doctors did not properly examine him and the risks of a penile implant surgery is now suing.

Enrique Milla, who now resides in Lima, Peru, told a Miami-Dade jury (via Skype) what his life is now like after a medical mistake left him with no external male genitalia.

In 2007, Milla, who was living in Miami at the time, underwent elective penile implant surgery to treat erectile dysfunction and improve sexual relations with his wife.

On Thursday, he testified that he had not been to see a doctor in 15 years and was not being treated for the “extreme case of diabetes” he had, nor was he on medication for his high blood pressure. Milla also testified that neither his blood sugar was tested nor his blood pressure checked before the surgery.

His attorney, Spencer Aronfeld, argued that Milla never should have been approved for the surgery, as any proper doctor would have ran all the appropriately (some one would even say basic) tests.

Dr. Laurentia Boeru, who was Milla’s anesthesiologist for the surgery, is the man being sued for malpractice, as Milla’s attorney claims he is “the one and only person who cleared him for this surgery, on that day.”

About 9 days after the surgery, Milla developed a Gangrenous infection on his penis.

His lawyer:

[An infection] turned into a flesh-eating bacteria that ate his penis centimeter by centimeter, and as a result of this, he has to spend the rest of his life without a functioning penis. He has to sit down to urinate. He’ll never have any intimate relationships with anyone, and he’s lost his manhood.”

Losing a child is extremely difficult. Losing a child during the birthing process is unimaginable, but when what happened to one Brazilian mother is nothing short of shockingly horrifying.

According to Brazil’s Globo G1 website, a 22-year-old mother of three was giving birth to her fourth child at the Santa Isabel maternity hospital in Aracaju of northeastern Brazil, when the baby became stuck.

After hours of labor, the baby was still not making its way through the birth canal and that’s when one of the five-doctor team made a terrible mistake.

According to the mother’s cousin, Gilmara Azevedo dos Santos, doctors made tried everything to get the baby out, even pushing on the mother’s stomach.

The mother told dos Santos that at one point she heard a loud noise, followed by one of the doctors saying, “Marcos, are you crazy?” but when she asked what happened, no one would answer and she was sent to have an emergency Caesarian section.

The doctors are said to have performed the Caesarian section to remove a the headless body of the baby, the head having been pulled off by one of the doctors attempting to pull the baby out during the initial birthing process.

The Caesarian section was performed to remove the body after the head was reportedly pulled off.

Dos Santos told Globo G1, ‘My cousin is totally devastated, the whole family is in shock. She is still in so much pain, as after the head had been pulled off they tried to get the body out by cutting her. In the end they had to open up her body to take out her son’s dead body.’

The family intends to sue the hospital for medical negligence, and clinic director Debora Leite says a committee of professionals has been set up to investigate how something like this could have happened.

YouTube superstars Boyce Avenue have released their latest cover, this time taking on Fun. feat. Janelle Monaé‘s “We Are Young”.

The Puerto Rican-born brothers – Alejandro, Daniel and Fabian Manzano – will soon be heading across the pond for their European tour which kicks off with supporting acts Alex Groot and Megan Nicole on June 4 in Brussels.

Remains of a ‘coal turtle’ officially known by paleontologist as ‘Carbonemys cofrinii’, in honor of the Colombian coal mine where it was found, have been discovered.

Experts believe this nearly 8-foot long turtle thrived in the water and had an almost 6-foot long shell. Unlike your friendly house turtle this massive reptile could not withdraw its head back into its shell but rather wrapped it around its body.

The Colombian Cerrejon coal mine is also where the largest known fossil snake was found. The ‘Titanoboa cerrejonesis’ was believed to be 46-feet-long. It is therefore believed that these massive creatures roamed South American some 60-million years ago.

The Cerrejon mine is located in northern Colombia and is the largest open-pit coal mine in the world. The turtle was discovered by Edwin Cadena, a North Carolina State doctoral student.

Common Cause filed a 52-page lawsuit last week asking the U.S. District Court in Washington to declare that the Senate’s filibuster rule is unconstitutional and violates the core American principle of majority rule.

Once a rarely used maneuver to allow extended debate, the filibuster is now routinely employed to block debate on hundreds of critical issues, including tackling the student loan debt crisis, revitalizing the economy, requiring disclosure of campaign spending, and filling court vacancies. The suit charges that the rule is unconstitutional and was never contemplated by the nation’s founders.

“Most Americans have lost confidence in Congress and its ability to act in the best interest of the American public,” said Bob Edgar, president and CEO of the government watchdog group. “They have good reason. Congress is mired in gridlock as partisan factions put political advantage over the national interest. Requiring 60 votes to do anything in the Senate is a big part of the problem. It creates a disincentive to compromise, and allows powerful special interests to call the shots behind closed doors.”

Plaintiffs in the case also include members of Congress and three promising young people whose future in America is being held hostage because of the filibuster of the DREAM Act.

Congressional plaintiffs include U.S. Reps John Lewis, D-GA., Michael Michaud, D-ME., Hank Johnson, D-GA, and Keith Ellison, D-MN, all of whom have seen legislation they sponsored win overwhelming bipartisan support in the House only to be denied debate and a vote in the Senate because of the filibuster.

Plaintiffs Erika Andiola, Ceasar Vargas and Celso Mireles were brought as children to the U.S. from Mexico by their parents. Each earned a college degree with honors and would be on track to become a U.S. citizen under an immigration reform measure, the DREAM Act. Passed in the House of Representatives, and supported by a majority of Senators, the DREAM Act was killed when just 41 senators refused to end the filibuster blocking it.

“These young adults are ready and eager to contribute to their adopted country, our country – one of them even wants to put his life on the line as a member of the Marine Corps—but a minority of senators refuses to let the majority act on a bill that would open up their path to citizenship,” Edgar said. “The Constitution does not give 41 senators a veto over the legislative process.”

Common Cause had hoped a reform effort led early this year by Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Tom Udall (D-NM) would persuade senators to fix the filibuster rule without a court fight. “But we’ve come to the point where it takes 60 votes just to get routine legislation onto the Senate floor for discussion,” said Edgar. “The filibuster has even been used to block an annual defense authorization bill, with provides badly needed raises for our troops.”

“This is not what the founders had in mind. We have no choice but to ask the courts to step in and enforce the Constitution as a matter of law,” Edgar said.

With 99% of the votes counted, Danilo Medina proclaimed himself as the next President of the Dominican Republic. Meanwhile his opponent former President Hipolito Mejia who garnered 46.93% of the vote versus 51.24% of the vote for Medina, refused to concede.

This election brought out a record number of Dominicans with over 65% of the eligible population voting. There were six declared candidates but the election was really between Medina and Mejia.

This is 60-year-old Medina’s third try for the Presidency, he was the former secretary of staff for President Leonel Fernandez from 1996-2000. He has a degree in chemical engineering and economics. The Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) candidates’ first political position was in 1986 as president of the countries Chamber of Deputies.

Supporters of Mejia of the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) are saying they will challenge the results and are charging voter fraud.

As the U.S. continues to debate the use of the $1 coin, Ecuador continues to import the currency.

Approximately $167 million in $1 U.S. coins was imported by Ecuador in 2011 and will start to circulate throughout the country on May 21.

Pedro Delgado, head of Ecuador’s Central Bank, says the coins were chosen instead over paper (cotton) money due to what people use it for.

Though $1 coins have been in circulation in the U.S. for years, because of budget constraints and increasing stockpiles of the relatively unpopular coins, the production of new Sacagawea and presidential dollar coins for circulation was suspended on December 13, 2011.

Fresno, California police are asking for your help in capturing the apparently very elusive cigarette and beer burglar Michael Hernandez. Authorities are saying the 25-year-old and an accomplice have robbed the local Pacific Asia Market three times in two weeks and have been captured on video doing it.

Hernandez visited the market on May 2nd, May 8th and May 10th entering all times through the roof. The stores surveillance video has Hernandez on tape, yet he remains elusive to capture. Their loot has been cash, beer and cigarettes.

The known gang member is also suspected in other area burglaries. Hernandez is also wanted for a drug probation violation.

A Mexican national wanted for fleeing a homicide charge in his native country was deported Tuesday by officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).

Sergio Arturo Moreno-Perez, 37, a resident of Wichita, was flown to El Paso, Texas, on a charter flight from Louisiana. Upon his arrival at the Paso Del Norte Port-of-Entry in El Paso, ERO officers transferred him to the custody of Mexican law enforcement authorities to face homicide charges.

Moreno is wanted by Mexican law enforcement officials for a homicide charge in Chihuahua, Mexico. A warrant for his arrest was issued by the Sixth Penal Judge of Bravos Judicial District in Chihuahua April 26, 2006.

Moreno first entered the United States illegally in Texas in 1978, but later adjusted to permanent resident status.

He was deported three times between 1995 and 2002, also having served a three-year prison term for illegally re-entering the United States during this period.

Moreno has committed multiple criminal offenses in the Wichita area in addition to his immigration violations, including felony convictions for burglary, robbery and illegal re-entry after deportation. He was most recently sentenced in Sedgwick County, Kansas, in 2005 to 96 months for the felony offense of aggravated robbery. This sentence ran concurrent with a second federal prison term following a second conviction for illegally re-entering the United States.

Upon his release from prison he was remanded to ICE custody where he remained until he was handed over to Mexican authorities.

The five countries that make up the Mundo Maya region expect to welcome 50 million tourists over the next 10 years, thanks to big marketing campaigns this year and expanded cooperation, Salvadoran Tourism Minister Jose Napoleon Duarte told Efe.

The Mundo Maya project, which was started with slightly more than $200,000 in seed money, will draw at least $2.5 million in investment over the next three years, Duarte, who serves as president of the Mundo Maya organization, said.

“Tourism leads to important things and this alliance among the five countries that make up the Mundo Maya is yielding results. The good practices are reflected in the results for each of our countries,” Duarte said.

Joint marketing efforts started last year, focusing on tourism fairs in London, Spain and Germany, the Salvadoran tourism minister said.

The marketing campaigns have increased the flow of tourists from Europe, the United States, Canada and other parts of Latin America, Duarte said.

“It is a renewed effort that has been hard. The Mundo Maya organization had already been created, but it was a little sleepy, and now we have managed to establish strategic alliances,” Duarte said.

Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Belize expect to welcome 5 million tourists this year, while Mexico is forecasting around 10 million visitors just to the Mundo Maya region, Duarte said.

The Mundo Maya organization has certified 20 tourist destinations, of which 10 are in Mexico, and the rest in the other member countries.

Among the Mayan archaeological zones certified by the organization are Palenque, Tulum, Comalcalco, Chichen Itza, Uxmal and Coba in Mexico; Xunantunich in Belize; Joya de Ceren in El Salvador; Tikal in Guatemala; and Copan in Honduras.

Tourists are flocking to the region this year because the Mayan calendar ends on Dec. 21, 2012, an event that some people consider an apocalyptic omen.

The Mayans lived in what are now Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador between 800 B.C. and A.D. 900.